But Turn'd Aside to Sleep
by reine-des-rythmes
Summary: Moments with the boys and their guardian angel. A failed 50sentence challenge. Title from John Donne: "...They who one another keep/Alive, ne'er parted be." Not slash. T for language only.


AN: Nope, this doesn't fulfill a 1sentence challenge. At all. But some good stuff did come out of this exercise and I'm really happy I did it and I can't wait to continue doing it. I really like this fandom.

Also, please, dear reader, if you can find a way to improve these by making them longer and more elaborate and stuff, feel free to go ahead and do it; you _don't_ have to ask permission. :) Though I'd love to read anything you come up with, so if you want to drop me a line or credit me or whatever, please do that too. oxx

* * *

Walking

_The pack is heavy, and the air is cold, and Sam wonders why this time his leaving feels like a betrayal and not a beginning._

Waltz

_Bela smells enticingly of licorice and mulled wine, and Dean tries to forget it as he smirks at Sam over her hair._

Wishes

_Castiel listens, of course, to Dean's pleas, unspoken and louder than Sam's screams, and wishes the stubborn man would find the courage to ask him for help, even if there's nothing he can do._

Wonder

_When he visits heaven now, he rarely goes to Arthur's flowered lawn - he is drawn, as always, to his charges, who make a space for him on the hood of the Impala and watch the dance of the spheres overhead, and he thinks this might be what his Father meant when He told him to find peace._

Worry (follows Wonder)

_"The concern I feel for you and your brother's wellbeing is a very old habit of mine. Your ascent to heaven is unlikely to break me of it." Dean smiles and responds easily, "Beer?"_

Whimsy

_By the time Dean, age eleven, gets back to the laundry room, the t-shirts and pants are neatly folded and stacked, and Castiel wonders how many more of these trips he can make while there's a war in Heaven twenty years from now._

Waste/Wasteland

_The Impala skids to a stop on the suddenly paved road, and they crane their necks to look through the rear window and watch the elegant sweeps of the farmhouse collapse, and then they exhale, simultaneous sighs of relief, of another nightmare over._

Whiskey

_Dean pulls the bottle from under his bed - and shoves it back when Sam walks up to him with a twenty in his fist. "Pizza," the thirty-year-old kid demands, eyes knowing and determined. "Yeah, alright," Dean says._

War (a Real Life Reference)

_Cas wakes and the boys - over forty now - are snickering in the front seats, so he lifts a hand and tugs at the squishy, fruity thing under his nose. "It's a wormstache," says Sam, sprawling over his seat with giggles. Dean guffaws, "It suits you, man." So Cas leaves it on and allows himself the indignity of a smile of his own._

Weddings (but who is she? srsly I don't know)

_"Better late than never" is her counter, tucking her short grey locks up into her cap. Dean, behind her, is laughing with his eyes because he must have known this was coming, while Sam looks like a fish. "Y-es?" he answers._

Birthday

_"It's your birthday, Castiel," and Sam Winchester is smiling so hugely, like it is the best day of the year. "This is not..." Cas stumbles, confused, and Dean claps his shoulder. "Day you Fell for us. What, you don't remember?" Of course he does, it is only... "I am no longer human, I returned to heaven." Sam's mouth hardens. "Doesn't matter, man. You're one of us." Dean nods and shoves the cold, wet bottle into his hands. "So we're celebrating."_

Blessing

_As Sam begins the warding benediction, one of the chicks flushes pink, her dilated pupils glued to Sam's mouth, and Dean rolls his eyes and tries not to hurl._

Bias

_Meg expects nothing but hatred from humans, and she laughs with the other demons at Ruby's foolish attempts to get Dean to accept her._

Burning

_Successful conversation requires a common frame of reference, so even when it means fighting off his nightmares alone, Dean is grateful that he can't talk to Sam about Hell._

Breathing

_Cracked ribs are the worst, Dean thinks, exhaling with a whine and willing Sam to wake up and close the curtains so he won't have to._

Breaking (or Intentionally Vague Pronouns)

_It's a slow fracture, and insidious, which is why gluing him back together is so frustrating. He watches him oh-so-carefully and patches up one side, only to find the other cracks have spiderwebbed while his attention was fixed._

Belief

_"Did you ever find Him?" Dean asks once, while Sam is sleeping. He hesitates, trying to understand himself. "Yes," he says eventually, "but ... it was more the essence of Him, rather than the deity." Dean's brow furrows, so Castiel looks pointedly at him. "I mean I found my faith, Dean, and that is the same as finding God." "You're messed up," the human accuses, and smiles at the television._

Balloon

_"You don't like balloons now?" Dean yells, insulted and incredulous as Sammy shakes his head. "Why the fuck not?" And then he remembers the hunt with Dad last week, at the circus, and he lets the string go, relieved when Sammy smiles a little watching it float into the ionosphere._

Balcony

_It's too hot, and back through the sliding door which leads to the bedroom he can hear Lisa stir in her sleep, but Dean remains outside because it's the only time he'll let himself edge around thoughts of Sam and Hell._

Bane

_"Wolfsbane, Dean, I told you we need some!" The growls grow louder. "Well then - - you shoulda gotten it yourself, dammit!"_

Quiet (companion to Belief)

_Heaven is too quiet; angels have no need for companionship and all the noise that comes with it, and Castiel realizes how much he craves that interaction now, so when the perfect silence above gets to be too much, he sinks down to a motel room where the TV and a buzzing light have been left on but the brothers breathe and shift in their sleep. His siblings might call it cacophonous and wasteful, but it is paradise._

Quirks (a Purgatory story)

_Dean sees Cas's hand twitch and wonders why the angel thinks his blade could do any good against a Purgatory vamp bite. "Guess that's it for me," he grins, clutching his bleeding arm. "_No_," Castiel says, and though the blade they lost miles back would indeed be useless, Dean takes heart from Cas's instinctual defiance on his behalf._

Question (a Purgatory story)

_Can the door even be opened from this side? Dean doesn't dare to ask._

Quarrel

_"Chuck Norris," Dean crows as he pushes the DVD player closed, holding Sam off with one arm while Cas tilts his head and purses his mouth. "I don't understand the importance of this triumph, Dean. It's just a -" "SHUT UP, CAS," the boys shout._

Quitting

_Dean is sixteen, Sammy is twelve, and the cigarette butt on the ground is the last one, he swears, because he'll be damned before he'll get his little brother into this shit._

(When She Says) Jump

_"Dude, you are whipped," Sam laughs. Dean shakes his head. "The fact remains, little bro - tonight, you'll be researching pay-per-view while I... will be having hot sex with an actual woman."_

Jester

_The man on stilts spins idly by, and Sam gives Dean a shove and a powdered-sugar smirk, "Hoodoo jinxes or no hoodoo jinxes, this was definitely a better case than a rampaging Alaskan moose."_

Jousting (companion to Whimsy)

_Sam pricks his brother's elbow with the tiny green sword that came with his fruit cup, and Dean pinches his knee under the table so his father won't see. The silent giggles are infectious, and Castiel, watching from another booth, must use his hand to mask his grin._

Jewel

_Alone, Sam dunks his hand into the waste basket, finds it, and stuffs it into his jacket pocket. Who knew when they would need it again._

Just

_"Cas, Castiel!" Sam cries, falling to his knees at the edge of the debris, "The building, it - and he's still in there - please, just -" A flap of wings, and Castiel is beside him, cradling Dean's too-still shoulders and concentrating as he presses two fingers to his grimy forehead._

Smirk

_Once outside and away from Raphael's glare, Castiel glances at his companion and feels his face twitch to mirror the other's. "It's about time we got one over on those dicks," Dean says placidly._

Sorrow

_Cas enters Sam's ward and is overwhelmed by the memories - the emotions - that flood him: the palpable fear, the self-loathing, the guilt, and Sam's internal screams as the wall fell. And he knows he has to make it right._

Stupidity (follows Bane)

_"Oh my god, Dean. I said that _right_ before you left." "No way you did, I'd've heard you." "Do you _ever_ pay attention to what I'm saying, you moron?" "Bitch." "Jerk!"_

Serenade

_Sam wakes up in the backseat of the Impala because Dean is singing along to "Heat of the Moment", quietly, and he feels like a tool because he can't sleep with it on. "Can you please turn that shit off?" "It's Asia, man!" "Please, Dean." The driver's eyebrows go up and then down as the memory surfaces, and the station changes to hip-hop. "Go back to sleep, assbutt."_

Sarcasm (or, How Many Dashes Can I Fit In One Sentence, or, Technically Not Sarcasm)

_"And I drank it," Cas says, and if the situation were not so world-endingly serious - if Sam were not so focused on saving it - and perhaps if Dean were here - he'd be laughing his ass off at the angel's what-else-would-I-do-with-it tone of voice._

Sordid

_"Your tainted brother and the Fallen angel must remain outside," the Mother Superior sniffs over her folded arms, and Dean moves forward to punch that disgusted look right off her face but is stopped by two pairs of hands grasping the tail of his jacket. "There is no need to lower her opinion of you as well," says Castiel. "We need someone to ask her about the girls' deaths," Sam agrees. "For the record, you guys are way too nice," Dean snarls before composing his features and entering the abbey alone._

Soliloquy

_It is a form of torture to listen to his brother argue with a Devil who isn't even there._

Sojourn

_Six months he spent tracking the damned thing, and as the Trickster raises a hateful eyebrow at his plea to bring Dean back, Sam realizes he remembers nothing of his travels._

Share

_"Gimme a fry." "No freakin' way, Saladman." "Don't slap me, you _owe_ me." "Not my fries I don't. Bitch!" Then Cas slips Dean's second burger from his plate and takes a jaw-crackingly huge bite. The boys stare. "Damn, Cas." "Y'know, if you were hungry, you could've told us." "Yeah, now I've gotta go get another one - dammit, Sam, do _not_ touch my fries!"_

Solitary

_I hate this, he thinks as he pulls on the shackles around his wrists. He yells again, not because he expects an answer anymore, but because he doesn't want to think about what the silence means._

Nowhere (and Everywhere at Once)

_This wasn't written. This is new, Chuck thinks as Castiel and Dean Winchester materialize in the living room, and He smiles. Destiny never was one of His better ideas anyway._

Neutral

_Sam glances at Dean, who makes a face, and they hold out their fists. 1-2-rocks. 1-2-scissors. 1-2-scissors. 1-2-rocks. If they didn't need to be hiding right now, Cas is fairly certain they would be yelling at each other. Possibly throwing punches. As it is... they simultaneously turn identical pleading looks to him. "I am not a part of this," he mouths frantically, holding up his hands._

Nuance (... this one's really long, for which I apologize)

_When they speak of the Winchesters - a rare event, to be sure, and only ever among well-known friends - talk doesn't center on their impressive armory, or their prowess at killing whatever-it-was that needed killing, or even on their bravery (there's been enough talk of that) (and everyone knows the Winchester type of bravery makes you deader than any other kind, many times over). No. They focus on the stupid things those boys do to get through the day. The drinking, sure; the greasy food, of course; the bloody scraps that leave them silent and moody, doesn't everyone need to blow off a little steam now and again? but also how Dean can, will, and has recited The Wrath of Khan from memory; that Sam shoots wendigos out of trees with his eyes closed and has started wearing glasses to read his computer screen; that Dean shouts obscenities when Sam lets one rip, and Sam laughs until his brother joins him; how Sam hides vegetables and crushed vitamin tablets in Dean's meals while he's away from his food. It's the little things._

Near (a Purgatory story)

_Dean's arms are around his shoulders, Dean's blood is on his hands, and Dean's breath is much too slow and shallow in his ear, and Castiel prays that the door back to Earth is closer than he calculated because he cannot bear to consider the alternative._

Natural

_Krissy slams the door open and glares down the barrel of her .45. "Hah, what -" Sam yelps, startling from the sofa, but Dean just covers his ears as she puts a neat hole in the wall by Sam's elbow. "We're hunting the same thing," she says to Dean, who gazes at the hole a moment before responding, "Nice shot, kid."_

Horizon (jfc this is nearly as long as Nuance)

_"Excuse me, what's the date?" Sam asks their waitress when she brings them their coffee, and Dean scowls when she tells them. Sam, however, cracks a wide, sardonic smile. "Here's to fifty years," he says, lifting his cup, and Dean clinks his against it. "Y'know, for normal people, this is only halfway?" "There's no way either of us are living to be a hundred, dude. We're lucky to have gotten this far." Sam brightens. "We should celebrate!" "C'mon, man, I just did Christmas for you." "That was months ago." "It was, like, two weeks ago. _And_ we went out for New Year's." "We _worked_ New Year's." "There were fireworks!" But Sam - Jesus, the kid is forty-five and his stupid sad-puppy routine must work better with wrinkles because Dean is already agreeing to having a stupid party, which will probably just end up being Sam and him at Jody's, watching a movie and drinking and pretending they're normal. Maybe Cas will show. Maybe Jody's got pie. "Okay, okay," Dean says._

Valiant

_Phil has been a San Francisco fireman for almost ten years, has known Sam and Dean Winchester for two, and figures it was a poltergeist. He walks over to the guys as they get checked over by the EMTs. "We were just down the street when we heard the sirens, smelled the smoke," Sam tells him with a shrug while his hand gets wrapped in gauze and Dean breathes deeply into an O2 mask. "Apparently the dad dropped a cigarette on the carpet. Just glad we got the kids out."_

Virtuous

_Dean closes his eyes as the news continues, but he can't hear it, he can only see Nancy's pretty, pale face, and hear her ask if her friends would live if she would die, and he doesn't want it, he doesn't want to feel this anymore._

Victory (in Three Parts)

_The first time, Castiel stares at Dean's uplifted hand in concern for two whole seconds before placing his palm gently against his, then quickly retracts it at Sam's chuckles. Dean also has trouble keeping a straight face._

_The second time, Dean and Sam demonstrate before Dean turns to Cas, and their hands meet with a resounding _crack_ that has Dean cursing and clutching his fingers and Sam leaning heavily on the Impala in a fit of laughter._

_The third time, Cas offers his hand first, and Dean slaps it with a grin, and Sam whoops and says, "Me next!"_

Defeat

_Never could get the hang of Thursdays, Dean said once, and as Sam holds his brother's cooling body on a Wednesday, he thinks, just one more Thursday, please, for me, Dean._


End file.
